Abdou Kolley, secretary of state for Trade, Industry and Employment, has said that access to finance is critical in the role of the private sector, in enhancing productive capacities in any economy.

SoS Kolley made this remark on Thursday, while delivering an opening statement at a conference on Banking and Finance, on the theme: "Financing for development - accessing information and funding." Organised by The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with International Finance Corporation, the three day conference was held at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi.

According to the SoS, interest in access to finance has increased significantly in recent years, as growing evidence suggest that lack of access to credit prevent lower income household and small firms from financing investment projects, leading to an adverse effect on growth and poverty alleviation.

He further highlighted that in the process of growth and development, private sector enterprise plays an irreplaceable role as they are, by far, the largest source of employment and investment and a significant source of tax revenue.

"The private sector provides market outlet, trading capacity and technology transfers, and it also serve as an important source of less tangible, but critically important element such as openness to ideas, innovation, opportunity and employment. However, an environment where there is restricted access to finance due to the lack of an efficient financial system is a serious impediment to the private sector to perform these roles," he said.

SoS Kolley observed that small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form the greater chunk of the private sector in The Gambia, in terms of both numbers of business and, overwhelmingly so, in terms of number of employees.

"However," he went on, "the banking sector in the Gambia offers only short-term finance rates of interest. SMEs have difficulty accessing long-term credit because of high transaction costs, lack of collateral, among a host of other factors, which lead commercial banks to favour large corporate borrowers."

SoS Kolley thanked the organisers and sponsors of the programs, stressing that they had indeed made a valuable contribution to "our development process by bringing to the fore the issue of access to finance which I consider as one of the most important challenges to our development."